Years of pressure on departments and agencies, making departmental budgets liable for blow-outs in claims among their workforces, appear to be paying off with the numbers of new claims down 25 per cent this year.

The worst of the pain might be over for departments themselves with their premium payments down too this financial year but the full figures for 2015-2016 will not be available for several weeks, the insurer says.

The much-resented "penalty charge" slapped on top of premiums to reflect the scheme's underperformance in years past is still being charged but has been reduced from 13.5 per cent of premiums to 8.5 per cent.

The reduction in premiums will be welcome news for cash-strapped departments who have watched their bills soar since 2011 as Comcare pursued a determined policy to ensure the financial cost of supporting sick and injured workers was reflected in the amounts paid by their workplaces.

Several departments have gone to their ministers complaining about the rising cost of their premiums after their protests to Comcare itself yielded no results.

The insurer itself has recovered from its financial nadir years of 2011 to 2013, when it found itself more than half-a-billion dollars in the red, with payouts decreasing by nearly $13 million in a year, from $306 million in 2014 to $293 million last year, with ­administrative expenses down $4.8 million.

"Efforts in prevention and early intervention are getting results, with the number of new claims falling by 25 per cent over the past five years," Comcare said in a statement.

"Employers are making their workplaces safer and Comcare'€™s activities are contributing to this through better engagement and a greater focus on early intervention and return to and recovery at work.

"The number of new claims has fallen from around 4000 a year in 2012 to 3000 now. "The Comcare spokesman said efforts to get sick and injured public servants back to work earlier had also been a driving force in lowering premiums.

"Increases in the length of time off work receiving incapacity payments were a major cause of the rise in premium payer costs up to 2013," he said.

"Claim duration after injury has levelled off since then and is starting to show signs of improvement in the critical first six months after injury.

"These trends are having a positive impact on the financial position of the premium scheme."

A move by the Abbott government to introduce sweeping legislative changes to workers' compensation in the federal public sector faltered and is not high on the list of priorities for the present government.

But attempts at legislative reform of the scheme might be revived in 2017, according to reports.